TAX JURISDICTIONS WILL BE SHORT CHANGED UNDER GARVIES POINT FINANCING PLAN

​Received from Drew LawrenceGlen CoveAugust 12, 2016​First, I’d like to be clear. After spending approximately seven years in assisting writing the contract for sale amendments and re-designing the RXR – Glen Isle waterfront project. I am not opposed to the development, I am opposed to the financing being requested as it is contrary to current contract documents, as well as legislation.

There is a new document supplied by the County Assessor’s Office, dated August 10, 2016 (attached excel sheet & letter) which is misleading and, should be at best, scrutinized. The document only applies to the land and tax share allocations as it is today. Open space and undeveloped. There is no attempt to project the worth or taxes that should be realized in the future. Careful reading and understanding of the letter is crucial to understanding this vague description and answer to a specific question.

Attached is a tax projection I put together using County Assessors website figures & City figures. The “affected tax jurisdictions” should have some major concerns. My projections give the re-developer the first ten years with no taxes. The project is supposed to build out within five but, I gave them a five year additional cushion. I used todays tax rates for values presumed to be 33% homestead vs 66% non-homestead on a basis of $900,000,000.00 ($900 million)value of the project. I extrapolated that over thirty years, not the forty as in the PILOT. That means the numbers representing taxes do not increase over that time. I then subtracted the revenue from the proposed PILOT and came up with numbers that shortchanges all the “affected tax jurisdictions” treasuries that would normally have come in without a PILOT. At the end of thirty years the re-developer would have saved in unpaid taxes over one billion dollars due to the PILOT. That tax savings more than pays for the entire project. The County loses $232 million plus, the City loses $174 million plus, the School District loses $604 million plus and the Library is shortchanged $24 million plus, over a period of thirty years.

There are some variables, such as it might not be 66% - 30%, it could be 60 – 40 or 75 – 25 but the difference in projected tax is miniscule in comparison to the total savings RXR will realize under this proposal.

Additionally, the project would have impact on the City of Glen Cove and Glen Cove Schools tax rates as opposed to straight tax revenue. For example, the current homestead rate in the City is .665232 per $100 of value. That means a homeowner with a $450,000 home is paying $2,993.54 in City taxes. If the project homestead value of $300,000,000.00, as used in the attached projection, is added to the total assessed valuation of homestead properties in the City under the current budget level, the rate per 100 drops to .559305. This means the homeowner of that same $450,000 would now pay $2,516.87 in City taxes. This tax relief would be enjoyed by the entire City and has always been the intent.

This PILOT can’t be passed. All taxpayers will be suffering from it for forty years not the developer. If RXR wants to walk – let him!! We’ll get someone else.

Drew Lawrence

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